Various configurations of photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells are known in the art with the fundamental objective of converting light energy into chemical energy in the form of hydrogen. One such configuration uses a single photo anode and a metal counter electrode immersed in an aqueous electrolyte for the electrolysis of water. When light is incident on the semiconductor electrode, it absorbs part of the light and generates electricity. This electricity is then used for the electrolysis of water.
PEC cells may use various types of thin film semiconducting materials that are photoactive and which may be fabricated using numerous techniques. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,091 discloses numerous techniques for fabricating semiconducting photo anodes including a method of preparing thick film TiO2 photo anodes. The thick film photo anodes are prepared from a paste consisting of a TiO2 powder dispersed in a liquid organic vehicle. The thick film is screen-printed and fired on a ceramic substrate, e.g. of 96% alumina. A layer of screen-printed thick film conductor is also provided as a conducting path to a counter electrode in the PEC cell.